Chinese scientists have found in a study that the orb weaver spider uses the gnats caught in its web as its next meal.
Juveniles communicate with other juvenals using light-emitting cells on their abdomens, with males using a multiple-pulse flash and females using a single-pulse.
The study found that this spider, called Arrhenius ventricus, forces male spiders caught in its webs to mimic the glow of females in order to catch other spiders.
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, found that trapped male gannets emit false signals that attract more male gannets to the web.
The research began when Xinhua Fu from China’s Huazhong Agricultural University saw male wildebeests caught in spider webs in a field. He realized that there were rarely any female Jagnos.
Scientists have conducted field studies to observe both the spider’s behavior and the signals of the gnats.
